Ultras and Marathons - how many?!

A week or so ago, an old and distant friend of mine made a list of all the ultras and marathons he had competed in over the years and I was amazed not only at the number of races he had completed, but also that he was able to remember them all! A few days later, another ultra running friend posted that she had done in excess of 90 marathons /ultras over the years - how on earth could they both have done so many?

Reading both Jeremy’s and Sandra’s posts got me thinking - how many long distance races have I actually competed in? It planted a seed, and with Andy being away, I have kept myself busy over the past few days looking back on old race results and newspaper clippings, trying to track down what exactly I’ve been up to.

It made things easy to some degree having already done a blog post earlier this year about all the marathons I have done, but when adding the ultras, I really couldn’t remember really doing that many - except I have!

I started ultra running back in 2007 - I’d had a good race at the London Marathon and ran a PB of 2 hours 47 minutes. That performance caught the eye of the Great Britain selectors and less than a year later, I found myself running my first ever ultra - the now defunct Draycote Water 35 miler which consister of 5 x 7 miles loops around the lake. It was my birthday that day and I won the race in a new course record of 4.00.35. Based on that performance, I was selected to run for England in the Anglo Celtic Plate which included the British 100km Championships. I won that race too and became the British Champion, and from that performance I went on to run in international competitions for my country on a further 7 or 8 occasions.

With having a marathon background, most of my earlier ultras were run on the roads although I did run for Great Britain twice on the trails. I have lots of fond memories racing on the roads - winning the British 100km title was very surreal, setting a new course record at the Dartmoor Discovery 32 mile ultra in horrendous conditions in the latter stages of ther ace was amazing, and of course, representing my country at a World Championship race was something very special.

Moving to Canada back in 2012 meant that I became a trail runner convert and all of the ultras I have competed in since then have been on the trails. Even now living in Arizona, the trails beckon and I find it hard to resist them. Every trail ultra I have done has been simply amazing, and it really is difficult to decide which has been my favourite. Trail running has shown me some hidden parts of the world that many people don’t have the opportunity to see, and I feel highly privileged and extremely grateful to be able to take part in this wonderful sport.

 Anyways, it’s thanks to Jeremy and Sandra that I HAVE compiled this list - 39 ultras and 35 marathons - 74 races and goodness knows how many miles training for them and actually completing them. There are some where I have cried with happiness, others where I’ve cried with despair, some where I’ve had the most amazing race ever, and others where I’ve questioned my sanity. But every single one of them has taught me so much more about myself, especially with running for so many hours on my own which has given me plenty of time to think.

One thing I am sure about - for as long as I can keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter how slow I get as I get older, and so long as I can still run, I will.

Times, positions and results of Ultras and Marathons Completed :-)

ULTRAS
1	Feb 2007	Draycote Water – Warwickshire, UK		35 miles	Road			4.00.35 (CR)	1st
2	May 2007	Anglo Celtic Plate inc. British Championships – Edinburgh, UK		100km	Road			8.14.39	1st
3	Aug 2007	Boddington 50km inc. English Championships – Gloucestershire, UK		50km	Road			3.24.27	1st
4	Sep 2007	IAU World Championships – Winschoten,Netherlands		100km	Road			7.54.11	11th
5	Dec 2007	World Trail Running Championships – Huntsville, Texas, USA		50 miles	Trail			7.22.00	3rd
6	May 2008	Marlborough Downs – Wiltshire, UK		33 miles	Trail			4.37.21	1st
7	Jun 2008	Dartmoor Discovery – Princetown, UK		32 miles	Road			4.02.36 (CR)	1st
8	Jul 2008	Swiss Alpine Mountain Marathon – Davos,    Switzerland		78km	Trail			9.05.50	20th
9	Aug 2008	Boddington 50km inc. English Championships – Gloucestershire, UK		50km	Road			3.40.09	1st
10	Nov 2008	IAU World Championships - Tarquinia,Italy		100k	Road			9.20.13	39th
11	Aug 2009	Dovedale Dipper  - Derbyshire, UK		27 miles	Trail			4.09.00	1st
12	Jun 2010	Boddington 50km inc. English Championships –Gloucestershire, UK		50k	Road			3.38.09	2nd
13	Aug 2010	IAU World Championships – Galway,Ireland		50k	Road			3.40.10	5th
14	Jan 2011	Gloucester 50km – Gloucestershire, UK		50k	Road			3.37.10	1st
15	Feb 2011	Barry 40		40 miles	Track			4.47.59	1st
16	Mar 2011	Anglo Celtic Plate inc. British Championships – Perth, UK		100km	Road			8.32.33	4th
17	May 2011	Forest of Dean Trail Ultra inc. English Trail Championships – Gloucestershire, UK		32 miles	Trail			4.01.21	3rd
18	Jun 2011	Baslow Bootbash – Derbyshire, UK		29 miles	Trail			4.45.12	1st
19	Jul 2011	World Trail Running Championships – Connemara, Ireland		72km	Trail			9.36.40	19th
20	Aug 2011	Dovedale Dipper – Derbyshire, UK		27 miles	Trail			4.02.00	1st
21	Sep 2011	Commonwealth Trail Championships – Anglesey, UK		55km	Trail			5.11.03	16th
22	Oct 2012	Grizzly Ultra – Canmore, Alberta		50km	Trail			5.48.26	11th
23	Feb 2013	Frozen Ass – Calgary, Alberta		50km	Road			3.56.12	1st
24	Jun 2013	Fast Trax Ultra – Edmonton, Alberta		100km	Trail			9.58.45	1st
25	Sep 2013	Lost Soul Ultra – Lethbridge, Alberta		100km	Trail			13.20.30	2nd
26	Oct 2013	Iron Horse Ultra – St Paul, Alberta		100 miles	Trail			21.09.09	1st
27	Feb 2014	Frozen Ass – Calgary, Alberta		50km	Road			4.06.45	1st
28	Jun 2014	Calgary 50km – Calgary, Alberta		50km	Road			3.53.02	4th
29	Jul 2014	Kananaskis Triple – Kananaskis, Alberta		85km (3 Stage)	Trail			10.28.00	3rd
30	Aug 2014	Iron Legs – Kananaskis, Alberta		50 miles	Trail			13.32.26	5th
31	Feb 2015	Frozen Ass – Calgary, Alberta		50km	Road			4.59.45	PACER Sub 5 hour
32	Jun 2015	Rundles Revenge – Canmore, Alberta		50km	Trail			5.28.43	2nd
33	Aug 2015	TransRockies Run – Colorado, USA		120 miles (6 Stage)	Trail			22.22.01	5th
34	Dec 2015	Across the Years – Phoenix, AZ, USA		24 hour (117 miles)	Trail			-	2nd
35	Apr 2016	Crown King Scramble – Phoenix, AZ, USA		50km	Trail			5.40.23	3rd
36	May 2016	Adrenalin Night Run – Phoenix, AZ, USA		54km	Trail			4.34.45 (CR)	1st
37	Jun 2016	Bryce Canyon – Utah, USA		50 miles	Trail			DNF (41 miles	-
38	Aug 2016	Silverton Alpine Marathon – Silverton, CO, USA		43km	Trail			5.17.15	3rd
39	Sep 2016	Javelina Jungover – Phoenix, AZ, USA		50km	Trail			4.53.02	1st
MARATHONS
40	Jun 1996	Potteries Marathon – Stoke, UK	Marathon			Road	3.46.59		11th
41	Jun 1997	Potteries Marathon – Stoke, UK	Marathon			Road	3.59.17		37th
42	Jun 1999	Potteries Marathon – Stoke, UK	Marathon			Road	3.40.19		16th
43	Apr 2000	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	3.35.42		428th
44	Jun 2000	Potteries Marathon – Stoke, UK	Marathon			Road	3.56.39		9th
45	Oct 2000	Snowdonia Marathon – Llanberis, UK	Marathon			Road	3.52.21		17th
46	Apr 2001	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	3.31.43		336th
47	Jun 2001	Potteries Marathon – Stoke, UK	Marathon			Road	3.29.55		7th
48	Jun 2002	Potteries Marathon – Stoke, UK	Marathon			Road	3.37.09		7th
49	Apr 2003	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	3.25.07		270th
50	Jun 2003	Potteries Marathon – Stoke, UK	Marathon			Road	3.19.33		3rd
51	Apr 2004	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	3.09.09		138th
52	Oct 2004	Snowdonia Marathon – Llanberis, UK	Marathon			Road	3.13.16		2nd
53	Apr 2005	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	2.53.59		42nd
54	Jun 2005	Blackpool Marathon – Blackpool, UK	Marathon			Road	2.58.01		1st
55	Apr 2006	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	2.47.41		16th
56	Oct 2006	Snowdonia Marathon – Llanberis, UK	Marathon			Road	3.05.53		1st
57	Apr 2007	Lochaber Marathon – Fort William, UK	Marathon			Road	2.53.08		1st
58	Apr 2008	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	2.48.23		23rd
59	Sep 2008	Langdale Marathon – Langdale, UK	Marathon			Road	3.15.46		1st
60	Oct 2009	Cologne Marathon – Cologne, Germany	Marathon			Road	2.55.01		5th
61	Apr 2010	Blackpool Marathon – Blackpool, UK	Marathon			Road	2.57.01		1st
62	Apr 2011	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	3.03.00		61st
63	May 2012	Calgary Marathon – Alberta, Canada	Marathon			Road	3.17.53		10th
64	May 2013	Calgary Marathon – Alberta, Canada	Marathon			Road	3.06.26		6th
65	Aug 2013	Edmonton Marathon – Alberta, Canada	Marathon			Road	3.06.55		2nd
66	May 2014	Red Deer Marathon – Alberta, Canada	Marathon			Road	3.11.08		1st
67	Jun 2014	Banff Marathon – Alberta, Canada	Marathon			Road	3.41.48		8th
68	Sep 2014	Mount Robson Marathon – BC, Canada	Marathon			Trail	4.29.45		3rd
69	Oct 2014	Toronto Marathon – Ontario, Canada	Marathon			Road	3.06.04		20th
70	Apr 2015	London Marathon – London, UK	Marathon			Road	3.02.34		114th
71	May 2015	Red Deer Marathon – Alberta, Canada	Marathon			Road	3.09.12		2nd
72	Nov 2015	Las Vegas Marathon – Nevada, USA	Marathon			Road	3.29.09		10th
73	Feb 2016	Phoenix Marathon – Arizona, USA	Marathon			Road	3.19.49		27th

Upcoming Ultras

October 2016 – Javelina Jundred – 100 mile trail race – Fountain Hills, Arizona

December 2016 – Desert Solstice – 24 hour track race – Phoenix, Arizona

February 2017 – Antelope Canyon – 50 mile trail race – Page, Arizona

Provisional 2017:

Mogollon Monster 100 mile trail race – October – Arizona

May, just maybe, 1 more shot at a sub 3 marathon … maybe!